1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to subsea well electrical couplings, and in particular to means for coupling adjacent control modules or pods electrically.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In offshore oil and gas well development, once a field is discovered, often many production wells will be drilled from the same platform. The platform will be submerged on the sea floor. Each well will have controls and lines leading to a common riser that leads to the surface through which the produced fluids flow. Numerous hydraulic and electrical controls are needed at the subsea platform to remotely control the various wells. Also, electrical communication to the surface is needed for transmitting signals such as monitoring pressure and temperature in the various wells.
The hydraulic and electrical connections are handled by control pods or modules which are lowered from the surface into receptacles located on the platform. The control pods have hydraulic couplings on the lower ends that connect with hydraulic couplings extending through the platform in communication with other control modules and with various wells. The electrical connections are normally through inductive couplings because of the possibility of contamination with the sea water. There is a loss of power in an inductive coupling, consequently the number of such couplings is minimized. As a result, a single umbilical line leading up the riser may extend to one control module, and that control module may electrically communicate with other modules in the control package.
Various means have been employed to communicate electrical power and signals from one control module to another control module. These include electrical couplings mounted on the side of the modules which are moved laterally either mechanically or hydraulically into contact with each other. While such systems have been workable, improvements are desired.